Gold and silver experienced mixed results on Tuesday amid a quieter trading atmosphere ahead of the New Years holiday. When all was said and done, gold picked up about 5 dollars while silver lost a little over 15 cents.

Today was a typical day of holiday trading as price movements posted by gold and silver were erratic all day long. With few fundamental inputs able to have any type of effect on the marketplace, smaller purchases and sales were able to influence the spot values of gold and silver much more significantly than on any normal day of trading.

With most investors out of the office and preparing for the New Years holiday, tomorrow will be even quieter than today. As it stands, gold is set to post its largest single-year loss in over 3 decades while silver will end the year in a similarly downtrodden position.

US stocks are still in a strong position and seem like they will enter the new year riding their current hot streak. Expect trading to pick up during the latter stages of the week, though things will likely remain quieter than usual as investors and the marketplace alike will be suffering from a holiday hangover of sorts.

Things to pay attention to in the early parts of 2014 include possible further reductions to Quantitative Easing. Many people are expecting QE to be reduced incrementally throughout 2014, but that remains to be seen. The US geopolitical atmosphere may also heat up during 2014’s first-quarter as politicians and the nation have some fiscal issues to tackle.

All Market Updates are provided as a third party analysis and do not necessarily reflect the explicit views of JM Bullion Inc. and should not be construed as financial advice.